Archive

Many banks offer cash back for opening new accounts. Bank of America has offered these deals in the past and has another offer you can take advantage of.

Open a new checking account with Bank of America and earn a $100 bonus. You can open a checking account online or go to a branch. You must use the reference offer code of AOU261209 to open an account by Feb. 28, 2010. Other details of the offer include:

No monthly maintenance fee

Only new customers are eligible for the bonus

Minimum balance of $500

Checking account must be open for at least 30 days

Must use check card for at least one transaction

The $25 bonus gets credited to your checking account within 90 days of it being opened. You cannot apply for the bank’s bonus offer if you have had a Bank of America account that was closed within the last three months. The bonus offer is limited to one per household.

Checking account customers have access to over 6,100 banking centers and over 18,000 ATMs. The annual percentage yield (APY) for tiered interest checking accounts is 0.05% for balances of less than $10,000, 0.25% for $10,000 to $99,000, and 0.4% for balances over $100,000. You may be responsible for paying taxes on interest earned.

Salem Five Direct has a couple of bank deals for checking and savings accounts. The savings account offers a a 1.55% annual percentage yield (APY). The eOne Savings Account links to an eOne Checking Account.

Other details of the online savings account offer include:

No monthly fees

Minimum opening deposit of $100

Savings rate applies to balances up to $1 million

Savings can be used for overdraft protection for checking account

The checking account offers a $25 bonus when you enroll in direct deposit. The account also features:

Cash back debt rewards

No monthly fee

Minimum opening deposit of $100

Reimburses up to $15 of fees for non-Salem Five ATMs each statement cycle

Unlimited checking, debit, and ATM transactions

Online statements

Earn up to 0.85% interest on checking deposits

Salem Five Direct credits the $25 bonus to the checking account within 60 days of setting up a recurring direct deposit. You have 90 days after opening an account to initiate a recurring direct deposit.

The savings and checking account offers are only available online and cannot be opened at a branch. Money in the accounts is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) for up to $250,000 per depositor.

Government and private reports indicate that personal income grew in November and is expected to continue gaining next year. The 0.4% rise in personal income occurred even as U.S. workers continued to lose jobs, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Americans also are putting more of their income into savings. The personal savings rate was 4.7% in November, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

That’s a huge shift from earlier in the decade when the U.S. savings rate plunged as many consumers spent like crazy and went deep into debt. Many people also took advantage of strong gains in the stock market and rapidly rising home values.

Now more folks are taking negative financial news seriously and looking to pay off debt. Many people also are beefing up their emergency funds and retirement accounts due to the constant economic uncertainty that has touched the lives of many Americans.

However, the unwillingness to spend is likely to slow down economic recovery. Because many people continue to remain concerned about their job prospects and more the overall direction of the economy, the savings rate may continue to rise as tight-fisted consumers sock away money for the proverbial rainy day.

A Gallup poll earlier this year indicated that 32% of Americans who had cut back their spending said they planned to continue that pattern in the future.

Sometimes it pays to look for bank deals at small community banks. Heritage Community Bank in New Jersey has a Rewards Checking account with a 3.51% annual percentage yield (APY). Details of the free checking account include:

Unlimited refunds of ATM fees

No monthly fees

No minimum balance

Unlimited check writing

Minimum opening deposit of $50

Free online banking and billpay

To qualify for the 3.51% APY and refunds of ATM fees during each billing cycle, you must make one direct deposit or ACH auto debit, make 10 debit card point of sale transactions, receive e-statements, and access online banking once.

The 3.51% APY applies to balances of up to $25,000. Checking account balances over $25,000 earn 1.01% APY. If you don’t meet the qualifications for the account, your money earns a 0.25% APY.

Other bank deals at Heritage Community Bank include a Free Checking account that has no minimum balance, no fees, and unlimited check writing. The checking account allows up to $15 in non-Heritage network ATM fees to be refunded. Direct deposit, free online banking with bill pay, and free toll-free banking also are available.

This account is a New Jersey Consumer Checking Account (NJCC). The NJCC accounts are set up to provide New Jersey residents with low-cost, low-volume basic checking services.

The average savings rate is 1.22%, but North Middlesex Savings Bank has a savings account with a 2.75% annual percentage yield (APY). The Simply Savings account is available as a passbook or statement account. Details of the offer include:

No minimum opening deposit

Make at least one deposit of $50 during each interest cycle

Deposits must be made in person at a branch in Massachusetts

Savings rate applies to deposits of $10 to $10,000 when account requirement is met each interest cycle

Savings rate defaults to 0.25% of requirement is not met

No ATM, Visa CheckCard, Internet banking, or ACH debits are allowed

You can only open one Simply Savings account per person. Three savings accounts are allowed per household.

North Middlesex Savings Bank also has an Easy Does It savings account. It pays a market rate of interest plus an extra 20% on the amount of interest credited to the account during the first nine months of the year. You receive the bonus payment in November.

The Easy Does It account can be set up as a statement or passbook savings account. You can access your account electronically and set up direct deposits. The savings account has a minimum balance requirement of $1,000.

Bank rates
provided by MoneyRates.com based on average rates for deposits under $10K and conforming mortgage rates

Do You Have A Bank Deal?

If you know of any bank deal that we haven't featured on our blog yet, we would love to hear from you. Whether you work with the bank or you found a deal in the newspaper, simply click on the submit a bank deal on the right hand side and help us all out!

Credit Card Deals

If you know of any bank deal that we haven't featured on our blog yet, we would love to hear from you.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the savings offers
appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here.
This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). These offers do not represent all deposit accounts available.